It's been quite some time since the A700 was announced and released. So far all we've seen of its successor are mock-ups . We know there'll be a completely new vertical grip for this thing, that it'll have translucent mirror technology, that Sony will announce a new kit lens for it,...but despite rumours that it would be announced somewhere this spring, we haven't heard anything official yet . Not even a rough estimate of its announcement or so.

So when do you think it'll be announced or released ?

For the time being, SAR reported that it could be announced July 7 and that it might be available late August or early September . By that time (late August) I personally expect to see minor updates being announced of the A580 and A560 too by the way. The A550/A500 and the A580/A560 were announced around that time too, so in my opinion it would be reasonable to expect an update by then.

Personally, I don't have a clue. 7/7 might sound nice, but I feel that Sony's been holding back this model for far too long anyway. Then again it should be a showstopper given the time Sony has taken for development.

SAR have had a fairly good record, or should that be Sony is bad at keeping secrets? Either way, an announcement for A77 on 7/7 I feel is very plausible. If they're still not ready, then availability can be delayed. I suspect they would have wanted simultaneous availability, but the earthquake might have put a delay on things so they will stick with the announcement date with a short delay before availability.

I'd further note that isn't a very recent rumour (almost 3 weeks old) and they didn't give it the highest rating either. Can't see anything in the more recent rumours about a delay, unless it is hidden in a comment somewhere.